Sandra Bowdler (born 1946) is an Australian

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

, emeritus professor of archaeology and former head of the Archaeology Department at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

Education

Bowdler completed an Honours degree in archaeology at the University of Sydney in 1971 and received her PhD from the Australian National University in 1979. Bowdler's PhD thesis was on the Aboriginal archaeology of Hunter Island in the Bass Strait near Tasmania, which was later published in 1984.

Career

Bowdler was appointed Professor of Archaeology at the

in 1983, where her research covered Australian Indigenous archaeology, and in particular

Shark Bay Shark Bay () is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The area is located approximately north of Perth, on the westernmost point of the Australian continent. UNESCO's listing of Shark Bay as a World Heritage S ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and coastal New South Wales, known as part of New England, as well as the pre-neolithic archaeology of East and Southeast Asia. She was at various times a tutor of prehistory at the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

, a research scholar with the Department of Prehistory Research, School of Pacific Studies at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

, lecturer in archaeology at the

University of New England University of New England may refer to: * University of New England (Australia), in New South Wales, with about 26,000 students * University of New England (United States), in Biddeford, Maine, with about 6,000 students See also * New England Coll ...

, Aboriginal sites consultant for the Forestry Commission of New South Wales and in private practice in Sydney, and professor of archaeology at the University of Western Australia. In 2007 she instigated the Festival Baroque Australia, a Western Australian Baroque music festival, curating festivals and concerts in Perth. From 2008, Bowdler was an emeritus professor and senior honorary research fellow of archaeology, and an honorary senior research fellow in the School of Music, at UWA. Throughout her career Bowdler has held several positions on committees and boards including the president of the Australian Archaeology Association (1980-1981), member on the

ICOMOS The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS; ) is a professional association that works for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places around the world. Now headquartered in Charenton-le-Pont, France, ICOMOS was fou ...

Executive Committee for Australasia (1982 - 1984), member of the Aboriginal Cultural Materials Committee (1983-1992), member of the management group of the International Committee of Archaeological Heritage Management (1984-1989), on the Board of Trustees of the

Western Australian Museum The Western Australian Museum is a statutory body, statutory authority within the Culture and the Arts Portfolio, established under the ''Museum Act 1969''. The museum has six main sites. The state museum, WA Museum Boola Bardip, is located i ...

(1984-1989), and on the National Cultural Heritage Committee (1988-1992).

Publications

As a member of the

Australian Museum The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum or Sydney Museum. is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney, William Street, Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, New South Wales. It is the oldest natural ...

in 1964, she documented the Aboriginal burial site in the Balls Head rock shelter, and has written extensively on the Aboriginal ceremonial Bora rings. In 2008, a special volume of the journal Australian Archaeology was published in Bowdler's honour. Edited by Jane Balme and

Sue O'Connor Sue O'Connor is an Australian archaeologist and Distinguished Professor in the School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University. Her research focuses primarily on the evidence of Pleistocene settlement and early hu ...

, the special volume was titled ''More Unconsidered Trifles: Papers to Celebrate the Career of Sandra Bowdler'' and featured contributions from many of Bowdler's students. From 2015 to 2019, Bowdler was editor of the journal ''Australian Archaeology''. Bowdler has researched and published extensively on the archaeology of music and ritual, Australian Aboriginal archaeology, coastal archaeology, early Asian archaeology, gender and society in archaeology, shell midden studies, and Tasmanian Aborigines in the pre-Colonial and Colonial periods.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowdler, Sandra Australian archaeologists Living people 1946 births Australian women archaeologists Academic staff of the University of Papua New Guinea